APOCALYPSE

Lucy Ellman: “ As if the end of the world had not already come and gone. ”

I was still reconciling our brutality against the animal as a fair trade for my needs. But the truth was that every second of my existence cost something precious, at the expense of something else equally precious. The difference is that in my modern city life, it’s usually concealed from view.

We practiced sight fishing — looking for light ripples on the surface that indicate activity below. (Rodríguez called it “nervous water.”)

Surviving is almost entirely a mental game. Being calm, rational and able to regulate your emotions is an extremely important soft skill. Surviving is high-stress, and recognizing when the body is in psychological distress is essential.

The survival I came to know on this trip was about something completely different. It was, above all, about letting yourself be affected by the changing world around you. Not just riding it out, but adapting, molting. Not succumbing to the luxury of despair, but keeping a foothold in possibility. Not blocking the world out, but letting it in.

Doomerism can be seductive: It allows for the security of a foregone conclusion, and beneath its faith that the end is inevitable lies a subtle note of satisfaction.

The world “apocalypse” is born of the Greek apokálypsis , meaning revelation, or hidden knowledge. The etymology suggests a divinely ordered retribution, a punitive conclusion, a Judgment Day when all will be revealed. It carries the idea that some mighty righteousness will organize our madness and impose justice on all the awful things we witness ... See more

Whom to trust, whom to build community with, whom not to — these were the factors most likely to determine whether you could make it through the end of days.